Overview
- A Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report says formally identifying the agent is appropriate, proportionate and strongly in the public interest.
- The committee says naming would help rebuild trust in state agencies and would not endanger active agents or deter future recruitment.
- Operation Kenova’s final report linked Stakeknife to at least 14 murders and 15 abductions and concluded the operation likely cost more lives than it saved.
- The agent is widely believed to have been west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who died in 2023, though the Government has not confirmed this under its Neither Confirm Nor Deny policy.
- Kenova chief Sir Iain Livingstone and PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher back disclosure, while ministers consider the Thompson Supreme Court ruling and pledge to update Parliament when able.